Washinc-machine mechanism



A. BOHY.

WASHING MACHINE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. 1918.

Patented July 22, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

vwewtoz T COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Cm, WASHINGTON n c A. 'BOHY.

WASHING MACHINE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION -F|LED MAY 8. 19M].

. 1 ,8 1 0,558. Patented July 22, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

awvewtoz .aewm

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII 120., WASHING TON, D. C.

ALFRED BOHY, or ALBI'A, IOWA.

WASHING-MACHINE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 22, 1919.

Application filed May 8, 1918. Serial No. 233,299.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED Born, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Albia, in the county of Monroeand State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and: useful Improvements in Washing-MachineMechanisms, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghadi to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in washing machine mechanism, andhas for its primary object to provide a hand operated means foractuating the agitator of a washing machine which may be convenientlyoperated from a sitting position with a minimum of exertion.

It is another and more particular object of the invention to provide, incombination with the agitator shaft, a gear, a fly wheel, and a pinionon the fly wheel shaft meshing with said gear, and a simple andeffective lever arrangement operatively connected to the gear and theagitator shaft whereby an oscillating rotary movement may be imparted tothe agitator shaft with a relatively short operating stroke of the powerlever. 7 It is also another important object of the invention to provideimproved means for operatively connecting the agitator to' the agitatorshaft to aflord a limited relative axial movement of the agitator in therotation thereof whereby the contents of the tub or receptacle will bemore thoroughly agitated and the cleansing fluid caused to permeate allparts thereo It is also an object of my invention to 'provide improvedmeans for mounting the agitator which is of such construction thatfrictional contact between metal parts in the relative movement of theagitator is avoided, whereby wear of the metal surface obviated.

It is also a further general Ob180t of the invention to improve andslmplifythe construction of washing machine mechanisms 'whereby the sameare rendered strong and durable, eflicient and serviceable in practicaluse, and capable of manufacture at relatively small cost.

.With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in theimproved construction,, combmation and relative .ar- -rangement of theseveral parts as will be partly in section;

hereinafter more fully described, subsequently claimed and illustratedin the accompanying drawings in which similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and whereinFigure l is a side elevation of a washing machine equipped with myimproved operating mechanism, the tub or receptacle being Fig. 2 is atop plan View;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the operating mechanism for the agitatorlooking at right angles to Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; i a

Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates the tub or receptacleto receive the clothes or other articles to be washed,

and 6 the top or cover therefor.

Upon the cover 6 a plate 7 extends radially from the center thereof toits periphery, and said plate adjacent to its inner end is formed withan arm, 8 extending laterally from one side of the plate. The plate 7and its arm 8 are securely fixed to the top or cover 6 by meansof thebolts shown at 9.

10 designates the agitator shaft, which is rotatably mounted in abearing sleeve 11 formed upon the plate 7, said sleeve extending throughanopeningin the cover 6. This shaft extends above the plate and to thesame one end of an arm 12 is securely fixed by means of the transversepin 13. To the lowerendof the shaft 10 the agitator, to be hereinafterdescribed in detail, is connected. The shaft 10 is located in line withthe laterally projecting, arm 8 of the plate 7 resulting in theformation of rust will be The base plate 7 is also provided at its innerend in spaced relation to. the shaft 10 with a second bearing sleeve 14.engaged in the opening in the top or cover 6 of the receptacle, and inthis sleeve the'lower end of a shaft 15 is rotatably mounted. A gear'wheel' 16 .is fixed to the upper end of this baseplate, an upstandingbearing boss 19 is formed, in which the lower end of the fly wheel shaft20 is rotatably mounted. 21 designates the flywheel fixed upon the upperend of the shaft, said fly wheel having a hub extension 22 which isrecessed at diametrically opposite sides as at 23 to receive key lugs 25formed upon a pinion 24 engaged upon the shaft 20. Suitable ballbearings 26 are also engaged between this pinion and the bearing boss19. The fly wheel 21, as well lower end of the sleeve and the boss 27.Upon the upper end of the sleeve, at diametrically opposite sidesthereof, the keys 32 are formed. A power lever 33 is centrally providedwith an opening to receive the sleeve 29 and grooves 34 at oppositesides of said opening to receive the keys 32. The lever 33 is heldagainst vertical movement on the sleeve by means of a set screw 35. Anut 36 threaded upon the upper end of the rod 25 prevents upwardvertical movement of the sleeve thereon.

To one of the arms 30, on the lower end of the sleeve 29, a rod 37 ispivotally connected at one of its ends, the other end of said rod beingeccentrically connected as at 38 to the gear wheel 16. A similarrelatively short rod 39 is pivotally connected to the other of the arms30 at one of its ends and has its other end pivotally connected to theextremity of the arm 12 which is fixed to the upper end of the agitatorshaft 10. The power lever 33 is provided at its opposite ends withsuitable handles 40 whereby said lever may be conveniently actuated.

To the lower end of the shaft 10 a yokeshaped casting 41 is securelyfixed by means of the pin or bolt 42 extending transversely through saidshaft and a sleeve centrally formed on the casting. The paralleldepending arms 43 of this casting terminate in horizontally disposedinwardly projecting lugs 44. These arms 43 are preferably ofsubstantially semicircular form in cross section as clearly shown inFig. 5 of the drawings.

The agitator proper is of cruciform shape in plan, and consists of twointersecting wood bars 45 having their central portions halved forinterlocking engagementin the usual and well known manner. Each of thesebars 45 is provided at its ends with the angular lugs or extensions 46,preferably of cylindrical form and slightly inclined in an outwarddirection. One of the bars 45 is provided at points equi-distantlyspaced from its center with the circular openings with 47 extendingvertically therethrough. These openings are of suflicient diameter topernnt of the passage of the inwardly projecting lugs 44 on thearms ofthe casting 41 through the same. The upper face of this bar 45 is formedwith a longitudinally extending recess or countersink 48 to receive astop bar 49 which is also constructed of wood. The ends of this barproject over the respective openings 47 and have rounded or convex endedges, indicated at 50, contacting with the inner concave faces of thecasting arms 43. Such contact, however, is not sufficiently tight toprevent the free vertical sliding movement of the agitator with respectto the arms of the casting. The bar 49 is re tained by means of a metalplate 51 which is disposed at right angles to the bar 49 and extendslongitudinally upon the other of the agitator bars 45. This plate at itsopposite ends is formed with flanges 52 which are seated in groovesprovided in the surface of the agitator bar. The agitator bars 45, thebar 49 and the plate 51 are all centrally formed with coincidingopenings to receive the fastening bolt 53 whereby the several parts maybe rigidly secured together and held against "relative movement by theclamping nut 54 threaded on the lower end of said bolt.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the construction and manner of operation of my improvedwashing machine mechanismwill'be clearly and fully understood. Theoperator, firmly grasping the handles 40, turns the lever 33 and thesleeve 29 on the rod 28, the ends of the lever being 'forcedinrelatively opposite directions by short strokes with the arms.

In this oscillating movement of the lever bar, the rods .37 and 39 arealternately moved in opposite directions. In such movement, the agitatorshaft 10 is rotated to impart an oscillating rotary movement to theagitator. The momentum of the fly wheel 21, materially assists in thisoperation and enables the agitator to be actuated with a'relativelyshort stroke of the lever bar 33 and a minimum of manual exertion. Thisadvantageous result is also greatly enhanced by the provision of thelong rod 37 connecting the .gear 16 driven from the fly wheel to thepower lever and the relatively short rod 39 which connects said lever tothe arm 12 on the upper end of the agitator shaft.

In the rotary oscillating movements of the agitator, it likewise movesvertically upon the casting 41, the downward movement of the agitatorbeing limited by the engagement of the ends of the stop bar 49 with theterminal lugs 44 on the arms of the casting and its upward movementbeing limited by the enga ement of the agitator the horizontal barof thecasting.

Thus, there is obtained a thorough agitation of the articles within thetub or receptacle 5 so that the cleansing fluid may permeate allportions thereof. The improved mechanism may be conveniently actuatedmanually from a sitting position, though it will be readily seen that bythe use of simple mechanical expedients, the mechanism may be operatedfrom a motor or other source of power. The several parts of the device,are of very simple form, strong and durable in their construction, andnot liable to get out of order. The surfaces of the casting 41 aregalvanized or otherwise finished to prevent rusting and by eliminatingfrictional wearing contact between metal parts in the vertical movementof the agitator, these metal surfaces will not become worn. Thus, thepossibility of rusting of the metal parts with consequent injury to theclothes 1s obviated.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of the several elements employed, it is to be understoodthat the mechanism is susceptible of considerable modification thereinand I, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimatechanges as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim 1. In combination with a receptacle having a removable top and ashaft rotatably mounted in said top, operating gearing for said shaftincluding a rotatably mounted power transmitting member, an arm fixed tothe shaft, a gear element having its axis spaced from said shaft,operating connections for the gear element and said arm connected tosaid power transmitting memher at points equi-distant from its axis andon relatively opposite sides thereof, and a fly Wheel geared to saidgear element.

2. In a washing machine mechanism, in combination with an agitatorshaft, means for imparting a rotary oscillating movement to said shaftand including a member rotatably mounted intermediate of its ends, agear wheel having its axis disposed in the same plane with the axis ofthe agitator shaft and with the axis of said member, said agitator shaftbeing disposed intermediate of said member and the gear wheel, meansoperatively connecting said member at one of its ends to the agitatorshaft, means operatively connecting the other end of said member to thegear wheel, a fly wheel, and a pinion operatively connected to the flywheel and meshing with said gear wheel.

3. In a washing machine mechanism, in combination with an agitatorshaft, means for imparting a rotary oscillating movement to said shaftincluding a rotatably mounted sleeve having oppositely projecting armsat one end, means on the other end of said sleeve to oscillate the sameupon its axis, an arm fixed to the agitator shaft, a rod connecting oneof the arms on said sleeve to the arm on said shaft, a gear wheel, arelatively long rod connecting said gear wheel to the other arm on thesleeve, a fly wheel, and a pinion operatively connected to the fly wheeland meshing with said gear wheel.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ALFRED BOHY.

Witnesses:

GEO. E. MASON. THOS. HIcKnNnoorER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

